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Hi all, I have been accepted into the holding pool for a Dash 8 airline ( something I am obviously very happy about and want to make sure I am fully prepared for). Does anyone know where I can find some good reading material, prehaps training manuals etc., to get me up to speed for my type rating, as and when it comes around?

TRTO's are pretty nifty at getting you throught the system and if pre-study would help, they'd send the stuff. It also might not help you and may even be a hinderance. When they send the bumpf only then start doing the work.

First of all, congratulations. You must be thrilled, however I would have to agree with what Piltdown Man has said. The volume of information available in the manuals is considerable and the TRTO Instruction will guide you though what needs to be committed to memory and what can be left firmly in the capable hands of the Bombardier Engineers.

Judging by what you've said so far,I am assuming that this is a job with a certain Exeter based operator. If so, what may be of use to you is a handbook the training department have recently published called the 'DHC8-Q400 Pilot's handbook'. The intention was that this handbook was sent out to new recruits prior to beginning their groundschool. It contains a basic set of perf figures, the vital memory actions/items and a guide through what to expect in the first few months of your training programme.

The next time you speak to them or e mail them, it might be worth asking about this handbook as it tends to get forgotten about.

Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate that certain things could be more harmful than beneficial. I will ask, though, about the "handbook" next time I contact them. In the mean time I will have to be satisfied with the challenges presented by my FI course.

No real need for any pre-course prep. Whatever the company's other faults may be, your TR training is good and more than adequate to get you through with no major hassle. All the difficulties are tied up in organisational errors and administration difficulties, neither of which you can prep for.

I hold a UK issued CPL/IR with 500 hours on the Dash-8's. I fly outside the EU with an ICAO issued Dash 8 rating. I would like to transfer my rating onto my JAA licence. I had a chat with a Romanian colleague who's hold's JAA(Romanian) approval to examine on the dash8's. My question is this, would the UK CAA agree to put the rating on my licence if I conduct an LST with the Romanian TRE on the sim? Thanx in advance.